LETTERS
Power Struggle
Your article on Iceland's
environmental-economic
dilemma struck a prophetic
note. The population has out
grown most of its resources
and now faces a difficult
choice: either move on to
where resources are plentiful
or destroy Iceland's environ
ment trying to harness the
last of its resources. It sounds
almost like a plot for apoc
alyptic science fiction.
NICHOLAS LYLE
Burlington, New Jersey
If those opposed to building
smelters in Iceland truly wanted
to stop such projects, more
would have taken advantage of
their extraordinarily represen
tative parliament and written
letters to their representatives.
GEO L. NIKOLOV
Poolesville, Maryland
As Icelanders are so well
educated and creative,
I question the urgency in
establishing an industry that
can be considered both
outdated and economically
and environmentally unpre
dictable. I would urge them
to set up nanotechnology
facilities, banking outposts,
and other options.
ABBY LEY
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
What Icelanders should be
wary of are the scars that
industrialization projects leave.
They are hard to erase, and
they almost universally tend to
expand rather than contract.
Forget hydroelectric.
DANIEL PANKRATZ
Huntington Beach, California
Your article on Iceland asks,
"How about some high-end,
eco-conscious tourism on a
par with, say, the Galapagos
Islands?" The Galapagos are
on the Equator. Iceland is 650
north latitude. Next question?
JOHN ROGERS
Wilmington, Delaware
the fog about,
needed only a single
apple to discover
the law of gravity
At the Heart of All Matter
As a former particle physicist,
I enjoyed your article on the
Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Besides the fundamental
questions that the LHC may
answer, such collaborations
prove that good science
can be done by people of any
race, gender, nationality, or
religion. As you point out,
although irrelevant in the big
picture, it is disturbing that
U.S . support for such basic
science has withered. I left
particle physics, and later the
U.S ., because of the difficulty
I had finding stable employment
and research funding. Many of
my classmates and I now live
and work outside the U.S. We
enjoy better research opportuni
ties in countries where society
respects and supports science.
JAMES B. COLE
Tsukuba, Japan
It confounds me that scientific
priorities can produce a goliath
superdetector looking for the
universe's smallest particle
while refusing to create large
scale, nondestructive energy
sources. I wonder what this
monstrosity's carbon footprint
is, and is it really worth it?
MATTHEW MARCHESANI
Smethport, Pennsylvania
Something is missing
regarding the construction
of the Large Hadron Collider:
benefit. Unlike flush toilets,
iPods, ATVs, and cell phones
that do everything but brush
your teeth, the LHC does not
appear to offer one practical
benefit for mankind. Oddly,
it took an army of curious
scientists 16 years and undis
closed millions of dollars to
think up an experiment they
are totally in the fog about,
while Isaac Newton needed
only a single apple to discover
the law of gravity.
GEORGE M. KEHEW
La Verkin, Utah
I hope the new atom smasher
isn't going to create a new
big bang. That would be the
God particle's revenge on the
human race for discovering it.
STEPHEN CONN
Nelson, New Zealand
Bhutan's Experiment
What a sad commentary:
The violence and misogyny
of American gang culture has
been successfully marketed,
presumably through TV and
the Internet, to the youth of
Bhutan, one of the most iso
lated nations. One wonders
how this will mesh with their
traditional Buddhist faith.
BILL GOLDEN
Asheville, North Carolina